Retractable landing gear



Jan. 15, 46. E. G. WAR@ I RETRACTABLE LANDING GEAR -Filed July 1s, '1942 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented Jan. l5, we@

2,39298Q2 RETRACTABLE Edward G. Ward, Glendale, Calif.u assigner to Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, Burbank, Calif.

Application July 1s, ma, serian No; 451,475 l (ci. eeen-rc2) 4 Claims.

In some of the airplanes, principally amphibious,

f the landing gear is adapted to fold into thesides of the fuselage, but in most cases it is adapted either to swing laterally into submergence 'in the root portion of the wing in the case of single motored airplanes to form an uninterrupted smooth airfoil surface or to swing longitudinally into suitable recesses provided in engine nacelles in the case of multimotor airplanes.

As airplane speeds become higher, particularly in the compact interceptor and fighter military types of airplanes, aerodynamic considerations dictate a progressive reduction in width and cross-sectional area of the fuselage, and reduction of the thickness of the wings to a degree where it is impossible to provide recesses in the wings of suilicient depth to house a landing gear wheel of adequate size. It is also diilicult to find room, particularly in the military type of air--V plane, for housing the landing gear and wheels in the sides of Athe fuselage in the manner heretofore employed.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a retractable landing gear of novel construction andadapted to use in airplanes having wing sections which are too thin to house the landing gear wheels.

It is a further vobject of this invention to prosurface of a. fuselage.

The objects of this invention are accomplished ingeneral by providing a landing gear structure having a pair of laterally extending wheel supporting struts carrying landing wheels whereby a wide supporting tread is formed with means to struction of the landing gear together with diagrammatic means for its actuation;

Figure 2 is a front elevation ofthe landing gear structure in a fully extended position as taken on line 2 2 of Figure 4;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the landing gear structure as taken on line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a side elevation of the landing gear i structure; and

Figure 5 is an enlarged longitudinal crosssection of a variable length, shock absorbing strut.

The apparatus of the invention is as follows:

Referring primarily to Figure 2, the outline of the cross-section of the fuselage is indicated by dotted` lines at I0. The central and primary structural unit of the landing gear to which substantially all of the movable structural elements of the retractable landing gear are pivotally connected, comprises a T shaped metal casting or forging II, the components of which are essentially I beam shaped in cross-section. 'The said T unit is pivotally supported by suitable bearings I2 and I3 upon coaxially positioned pivots 'I4 and i5 which are rigidly attached to the interna on either side a 'set of threev parallel, laterally extending parallelogram linkse2, 2i and 22 as shown on the left and 23, 25 and 25 as shown on the right as viewed from the rear as in Figure 2. The parallelogram link rods 20 and 2i are pivotally connected at their inner ends to the upper left portions oi.' the gussets Il and I8 respecf tively by suitable pin connections as shown at 26 fold said supports and wheels together and into the bottom portion of the fuselage.

Other objects and features of novelty will be evident hereinafter.

Referring to the drawings wherein a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated and wherein the same reference characters refer to similar parts:

Figure 1 is an isometric view of the general contheir outer ends as shown at 3l, 32 and 33 to suitable pin connectors forming an integral part of the inner faces of the landing wheeldrums 34 and 35.

A pair of diagonally Apositioned hydraulically operated variable length shock absorbing struts 38 and 31 hereinafter more fully described, are pivotally connected at 38 and 38 at their lower ends with webs 40 and 4| forming an integral part of the inner faces of the beforementioned landing wheel drums 34 and 35 and at their up- .per ends to the outermost ends of the T unit at pin connections intermediate the flanges of the T unit as shown at 42 and 43.

Drag bracing for the landing gear assembly is provided mainly by three struts 45, 48 and 41 attached obliquely to the rear face of the flange of the T unit and extending rearwardly to a common connecting point 48 to form a cabane like structure from the apex of which a pair of later- 'ally directed stub connections 48 and 50 extend.

Axpair of tubular drag links si and s2 are respectively pin connected at 53 and 54 to said stub connections and extend diagonally forward to and make rigid connection with the opposite upper rear parallelogram link rods 2| and 24 at 55' and,l

80 adjacent their outer ends.

A second pair of diagonally arranged drag links 82 and 83 are attached rigidly at 84 and 85 to the outer portions of the lower parallelogram links 22 and 25 and extend inwardly to a second pair of pin connections 81 and 68' carried on the apex formed by the intersecting connections of a rearwardly extending brace 89 attached to the lower portion of the gusset I8 and a tube bracing element 10 extending diagonallyupwardly to the right hand parallelogram landing gear linkages and drag braces are similarly arranged about common center lines.

A-pair of 'fixed cross bracing struts 15 and 18 are provided to reinforce the vertical stem |8 against lateral bending stresses.

As beforementioned, the whole of the before described landing gear assembly is pivotally supported from within the lower portion of the fuselage structure I on suitable pin connections as illustrated at |4 and i5 about which itis adapted to be swung forward through an angle of approximately 90 into substantially a horizontal position into a suitable recess within the fuselage as indicated best at 18 in Figure 4. The said pivotal motion of landing gear assembly is adapted to be eected by means of a hydraulically operated double acting cylinder 11 pivotally connected at the head end to a suitable clevis attachment 18 fixed to the central interior structure of the fuselage. Thepiston rod 18 of the cylinder 18 makes pivotal connection at 80 to the middle portion ofa double faced bell crank 8| adapted to pivot at 82 upon a suitable support 83 also fixed to the ,fuselage structure. A movablellnk ro`d 85 extends between the faces of the bell crank 8| from the upper -pivot 88 to a pin connection 81 at the apex 48 of the before described intersecting connection of the bracing rods 45, 48 and 41. In the fully extended position of the landing gear as shown best in Figure 4, the center line .of the linkv 85 extending between centers 88 and 81 fallsto the rear of the crank center 82 thus automatically locking the gear against movement other than those caused by impressing iiuid presin the cylinder |0| and the lower portion of thesite ends thereof within the respective cylinders sure upon cylinder 11. Hydraulic pressure may be selectively applied from suitable pressure means to either of the connections 89 or 80 leading to head and piston ends of the cylinder 11. Pressure applied to the head connection 88 will tend to extend the piston .rod or plunger 18 and pressure applied at will tend to retract the plunger 18 within the cylinder 11.

Referring now to Figure 5, the construction of each of the extensible hydraulic shock absorber.

struts 'is as follows: The shock absorber struts comprise an upper cylindrical portion |00 and a lower cylindrical portion 0| divided at a point about one quarter of its length from the bottom by a fixed diaphragm |04. The diaphragm |04 carries an inner chamber |05 which extends upward and is concentrically positioned within the length of the upper cylindrical portion |00 and an orice |08 centrally located in the diaphragm |04 forms a restricted passageway between the lower cylinder |0| an'd the chamber |05. A piston rod or plunger |01 enters the lower end of the cylinder |0| through a suitable guide bushing |08. Said plunger |01 carries a piston |08 at its upper end and an attachment |0 at its lower end adapted to make pivotal connection with the landing wheel drum as shown at 38 and 38 and as hereinbefore described. The space above piston |08 chamber |05 is adapted to carry a body of oil which is normally maintained at a level approximately as indicated by the oil iev/el line The balance of the space in' the upper end of the chamber |05 is occupied by air under suitable pressure. l' "l a. Y

An annular shaped piston v| i2 is reciprocatably contained in the elongated annular space formed between the inner surface of cylinder l 00 and the outer surface of the chamber |05 and a tubular plunge!I I3 connected to said piston I2 extends out ofthe upper end of said cylinder |00 through a stuffing box ||4. Fluid pressure inlets |I5 and ||8 for actuating the piston ||2 are provided entering the head and piston ends respectively of said cylinder |00. The top end of said tubular plunger H3 is provided with a bearing connection I1 by which it is adapted to make pivotal connection with the T unit of the landing gear structure at either 42l or 43 as hereinbefore mentioned.

Referring again to Figure 1, a pair of cylinders |2| and |22 are arranged in tandem with a common 'reciprocatable piston rod or plungerv |23 passing from one cylinder to the other through adjacent stuiiing boxes |24 and |25. The said piston rod |23 carries pistons |28 and |21 on oppoand the diameters of the piston rods with respect to the diameters of their pistons is such as to result in the duid displacement on either side of the pistons in each cylinder being substantially different and in the ratio of the fluid displacements required to actuate the two extensible shock absorber strut cylinders |00 and the landing gear folding actuating cylinder 11 for their full work; ing strokes. A

The pipe connections 88 and 80 from the inner piston rod ends of the cylinders |2| and |22 make connection with the connections of corresponding numbers of landing gear actuating cylinder 11, and pipe connections ||5 and ||8 make parallel connection with the connections of corresponding lines carrying the same reference numerals.

The plunger |23 is actuated by means of a lever asaasoa y itil, one end of which is pivotally connected at |3| to the mid-point of the plunger |23 intermediate the stuillng boxes |25 and |25 of the two cylinders. The lever |30 which is centrally pivoted upon a xed bearing at |32 is driven by means of a piston rod |33 which is in turn pivotally connected at the outer end |348 to the opposite end of the lever |30. The driving piston rod |33 ex-` tends into a cylinder |35 to a piston |36.which is adapted to be reciprocated within the cylinder |35 by means of differential fluid pressure applied across the said piston by means of a reversible gear pump |31 which may in turn be driven in either direction as desired through suitable gearing by the airplane power plant.

The operation of the landing gear apparatus is as follows: Assuming the landing gear to be in`-` itially in .a fully extended landing position; as shown in solid lines in the drawings, the retraction of the landing gear following take-olf is initiated by first relieving the fluid pressure previously maintained on top of the annular piston |I2 in the cylinder |00 in the annular space between the plunger ||3 and the cylinder |00 and discharging fluid therefrom through the connection ||6 through suitable flexible pipe connections, to a fluid reservoir while at the same time fluid pressure is applied from a suitable source such as from an engine driven pump through suitable exible tubing, and through connection H and to the bottom of the said annular piston I2. The differential iluid pressure thus applied on the piston 2 forces it upward in the cylinder |00 resulting in an extension of the plunger ||3 and thus effecting an overall increase of the effective length of the shock absorbing strut. This increase in length of the shock absorbing strut allows the parallelogram linkages 20-22 and 23-25 to swing downward about their inner pivot points carrying the landing gear wheel drums downward in parallel motion with respect toone another to the lowered position as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 2, at which 'point the wheel drums 34 and 35 are brought together back to back.

Following this the whole landing gear assembly, including the T unit structure is next swung forward about the pivots Id and I5 to the position within the fuselage shown in dotted lines in Figure fl, the two adjacent landing wheels being then completely housed within the beforementioned recess indicated at 13 in Figures 2-and 4.` The forward swinging of the landing gear assembly is effected by applying duid pressure through suitable flexible piping to the head or pivoted end 4position as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 4.

At this location the center-line and thrust-line of the link 85 passes below the xed crank pivot point 82 .and at the same time piston '19 comes into contact with the said pivot 82 thus locking the linkage and the landing gear against further movement in either direction. The thrust thus applied to the said link 85 acting upon the pivot 81 swings the landing gear assembly forward and up into a locked position within the fuselage as before described.

To lower the landing gear from the fully retracted position uid pressure is applied through connection 90 to the piston rod end of the cylinder back counter-clockwise about the xed center 32 to the position shown in solid lines in Figures 1 and 4. In this position the center line of the link passes beyond the center of pivot 82 as shown in Figure d and thus locks the landing gear in the forward position against further swinging action aboutpivots d and l5. Following this fluid pressuremay then be applied through connection H5 to the top of the annular piston H2 while at the same time exhausting the fluid from the lower side through connection H6 to cause the piston rod or plunger H3 to retract within the cylinder |00 thus shortening' the effective length of the strut and thereby at the same time swinging the landing wheel upward into the positions best shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Instead of performing the folding operations in two separate successive steps as hereinbefore described. the two steps may be performed simultaneously or in overlapping sequence as desired. In general, it is desirable to perform the two folding steps in overlappingsequence whereby the landing wheels will not be allowedto lower fully to the folded-together position as shown in dotted lines in Figure 2 but instead to commence the forward swing of the landing gear assembly as a whole about pivots ld and l5 prior to the wheels reaching this fully lowered position, and thus the wheels can be caused to follow a median path of movement into the fuselage recess approximately as indicated by the wheel center line travel shown in dotted line at |20 in Figure 4.

Overlapping or substantially simultaneous performance of the two folding steps may be impelled by the hereinbefore described diagrammatic apparatus of Figure i vas follows: As the plunger |23 is moved downward as viewed in Figure 1 by means of cylinder |35 acting through lever |30, the fluid in the outer head end of cylinder |21 is displaced through connections HB into the lower end of the cylinders |00 of the shock struts causing the extension of the plunger H3 while at the same time thegfluid displaced from above the annular piston H2 in cylinder l0@ is displaced into the outer head end of the cylinder`|2i through connection H5. Simultaneously the fluid is displaced from the inner end of cylinder |2| and through connection 89 to the head end of the gear folding cylinder 11 to extend plunger is while the fluid thereby displaced from the plunger end of cylinder i1 returns through connection tothe inner end of cylinder |22.

By arranging for a suitable amount of lost motion between the pistons of the cylindersadapted to apply uid pressure to the landing gear actuating mechanism, the sequence of operations in yretracting the landing gear within the fuselage can be made successive or overlapping in any described degree.

The foregoing is merely illustrative of a preferred embodiment of the invention and is not to be limited thereby but may include any apparatus which accomplishes the same within the scope of the claims.

I claim:

l. A retractable landing gear for aircraft comprising in combination a fuselage, a primary supporting structure for said landing gear pivotally supported at its upper end in said fuselage upon a. laterally positioned axis, said primary structure having a central member arranged to extend t ,scasos strut diagonally positioned between the outer end l0 of said linkages and the upper portion of said primary supporting structure to swing said linkages through arcs in lateral planes with respect .to the pivotal attachments to said primary structure whereby the said wheels may be moved closely together in parallel motion withrespect to one another, and means to swing said primary sup` porting structure together with said wheels as a unit .through an arc in a longitudinal plane about said lateral axis to a substantially horizontal position within the bottom of said fuselage.

2. A retractable landing gear for aircraft comprising in combination a fuselage, a primary supporting structure for said landing gear pivotally supported at its upper end in said fuselage upon a laterally positioned axis, said primary structure having a vcentral member arranged to extend downward a substantial distance belowsaid fuselage. a pair of oppositely directed laterally extending parallelogram linkages, each linkage comprising three parallel links pivotally connected at *their inner ends to the lower end of the primary supporting structure and pivotally attached at their outer ends to a landing wheel supporting drum, wheels rotatably mounted at axis to a substantially horizontal position within the bottom of said fuselage.

3. A retractable landing gear for aircraft comprising in combination a fuselage, a primary supporting structure for said landing gear pivotally supported at its upper end in said fuselage upon a laterally positioned axis, said vprimary' structure having a central member arranged to extend downward a substantial distance below said fuselage, a pair of oppositely directed laterally extending parallelogram linkages pivotally attached at their inner ends to the lower end of said central member of the primary supporting structure, wheels rotatably mountedat the outer ends of said linkages, the attachment points of said` linkages on the central member of the primary supporting structure .being substantially aligned in a horizontal plane with the center of said wheels .when in the fully extended position, means independent of said linkages adapted to swing the linkages and wheels through arcs in lateral planes with respect to the said pivotal attachments to said primary structure whereby the said wheels may be moved closely together in parallel motion with respect to one another, and other means ada'pted to swing said primary supporting structure` together with said wheels as a the outer ends ol said linkages, said downwardly extending central member normally occupying a position between said wheels, a variable length shock absorbing strut diagonally positioned be-` tween the landing wheel supporting drum and the upper portion of saidv .primary supporting structure to swingsaid linkages through arcs in lateral planes with respect to the said pivotal at# tachments to said primary structure whereby the said wheels may be moved closely together in v parallel motion with respect to one another, and

- means to swing said primary supporting struc-4 ture together with said wheels as4 a unit through an are in a longitudinal plane about said lateral central member of the primary supporting structure, means positioned between said primary structure and said wheels to move said spaced wheels inward to positions closely adjacent to one v another and other means to swing said primary supporting structure `together with said wheels through an arc in a longitudinal plane about said lateral axis. to asubstantially horizontal posi- .tion within the bottom of said fuselage.

' EDWARD G. WARD. 

